Filmpunkt GmbH
Thomas Riedelsheimer
und Stefan Tolz
Goltsteinstr. 28-30
50968 Köln
0221 800 471 32
info(at)filmpunkt.com
Breathing Earth (AT)
Susumu Shingu Working With the Wind
a film by Thomas Riedelsheimer
A journey through the world with Japanese artist Susumu Shingu as he follows his life-long dream-project and explores the energy of wind and water.
“Nature knows no rigid resistance”. Susumu Shingu works with wind and water. For many years now he has been creating sculptures that reveal the hidden energies of these elements - works of art that move the observer in an idiosyncratic manner, perhaps because they embody, in consummate beauty, a principle of life. They are moved by the same wind that we feel. They allow themselves to be carried by it, absorb it, change again and again, and then let it move on. Susumu lives according to this principle with great joy. He looks on in wonder, enjoys and, even at 71, he has retained the imagination and curiosity that led him to build flying machines and racing cars as a child.
Major architects, like his friend Renzo Piano, like to have their monumental constructions brought to life with his sculptures. Choreographers appreciate his sets and children love his imaginative illustrated books. He is a Renaissance man, fully committed to variety, the wonder of life and concern for people and his environment. This concern, along with his desire for people to discover other life principles again, have taken him on a journey to a new destination: Breathing Earth.
Breathing Earth is intended as a place of inspiration. A place for artists, scientists and children. A place to learn, discuss, try out and enact. A place to help people develop fresh ideas, sustained by wind energy, creativity and a philosophy shaped by Susumu’s life experience and joy of life. Hence, Susumu is on the road, to look for a place for his village and to convince friends and sponsors that art can provide impetus for a healthier relationship with our planet. He is accompanied throughout this journey by his wife Yasuko, with whom Susumu enjoys a relationship based on love and respect. For, ultimately, Breathing Earth is not supposed to be only some far-away place, but first and foremost a place within us.
Breathing Earth, 90min, Super 16mm
© Filmpunkt GmbH and Skyline Prod. Ltd
Germany/Scotland 2008/2009
directing, camera, editing
Thomas Riedelsheimer
producers
Stefan Tolz, Leslie Hills
